Polyneuropathy
by Bubina
Summary: After a mission, things go haywire. From Duo's point of view. Warnings: yaoi lime, angst, confusing thoughts and the like.
1. The Mission

"Duo, you get us some carriers from the north gate. Trowa and Quatre, set up the bombs within the base. Wufei, go south with Nataku and destroy the Tauruses. I'll go get the data we need," Heero briefed us as we lay in a cave West of the Cameroon Oz base.  
  
We all nodded. Our gundams were hidden within the moutains and numerous crevasses here in the wilderness. The Oz base would be hard to get to but we were going to do it by stealth. It was in the middle of a desert area, and the gundams would be spotted and intercepted from miles away, so we had decided to go on foot, except for Wufei who would distract them and destroy the Tauruses under construction.  
  
Trowa and Quatre were the first to leave with some backpacks. Wufei started climbing up the mountain face to get to his gundam, while Heero and I waited in the cave for the signal from Trowa and Quatre.  
  
A few minutes later we saw the flashing of a mirror and stepped out of the cave, going our separate ways. I kept heading straight on, while Heero walked with me some of the way, then headed West. I walked for a few hundred metres, then pulled a mirror out of my backpack and signalled to Wufei. Soon enough I saw the Shenlong rise above the mountains and head for the base.  
  
I kept walking, wiping the sweat from my brow. I stopped to sit down and have some water, it was a long walk, and the sun was beginning to set. I stood up again, put my backpack on my back and started jogging towards the base. I was approaching from the south and would have to go around the base to get to the carriers in the north hangars.  
  
I stopped at the south gate and crouched beside it. It was dark now, and very cold and my teeth chattered slightly. A shiver ran through my body, starting at the base of my spine, and my jaws locked as I tried to stop it. The searchlights from the lookout towers above moved over the sand. When they were moving within the base itself, I ran forwards, and managed to get about half way towards the base.  
  
Suddenly a siren started. "Wufei must've arrived," I assumed. I heard gunfire and numerous explosions. The searchlights were all concentrated up north and soldiers were running throughout the base.  
  
In all the commotion, I took the opportunity to move further North. I approached the hangars and fumbled in my backpack for a bomb to blow them open with. I didn't want to use a torch for fear of being found. Eventually I found the bomb and planted it on the door, then ran to the side of the building and saw some shadows moving towards me from the left.  
  
"Shit!" I muttered. I was dressed in my trademark black clothes, but I still knew they'd see me. There was a river just a bit further north and I sprinted towards it. Looking back, I saw a group of five Oz soldiers jogging towards me, willing me to stop. I kept running and dived into the river, holding my breath for as long as I could.  
  
Bullets shot through the water, but they whizzed past me. I could barely see them in the murky water. My lungs felt like they might explode and my head was throbbing. I had to get up for air. Slowly I rose to the surface of the water, and gently lifted my head out of the water. The soldiers were walking away slowly. I took a deep breath and lowered my head again, my heavy clothes weighing me down. I kicked off my shoes and pulled off my trousers, trying not to splash around too much. I also pulled off my tops, remaining under the water in just boxers. Suddenly I spluttered, swallowing dirty water from the river. I raised my head again, up out of the water and breathed in the cold air. All seemed to be quiet. I coughed, then got out of the water, shivering violently. I pulled on my black sweatshirt and black trousers, but they were soaking wet and made me even colder, so I pulled off the shirt and stayed in trousers only.  
  
I felt a terrible stabbing pain on my back and twisted my head to see what was wrong. I noticed a black lump on my skin. It was a leech, sucking my blood. I grabbed it with my fingers and tried to pull it off but my grasp on it was shaky, my fingers shook in the cold, and it was slimy and slippery.  
  
"I need a lighter," I thought to myself. "Or some salt."  
  
My backpack was still by the hangar. The soldiers had probably taken it and taken the bomb as well. I hadn't had a chance to set it off. I kicked the ground in rage and sand flew up. I bent over and grasped some sand in my hands and rubbed it savagely over the leech and the surrounding skin. "Get off! Bastard..." I muttered to it.  
  
It wasn't working. I fumbled around in the sand, searching for a rock. Eventually I found one with nice sharp edges and literally scraped the leech off my skin, taking away my skin with it. I winced in pain and felt my back. It was wet and sticky, very obviously I was bleeding. There wasn't anything I could do about it so I ran back to the hangar. The others were supposed to meet me there at nine o'clock. I illuminated my digital watch. It was already quarter past nine.  
  
I cursed to myself and ran back to the hangars in my socks, my feet sinking in the sand. I could feel the muscles at the back of my legs stretching, relaxing, stretching, relaxing. Running in the sand was hard, and my shivering body wasn't making it any easier. My teeth chattered in the cold and my breath was becoming fast and shallow, but I had almost reached the hangars. The door was open and one carrier was leaving. It turned to the right, then raced down the runway, taking off and flying off into the darkness. I ran into the hangar, trying to find a familiar face.  
  
There was one carrier left, and the back was open. I ran to the back and saw the Shenlong being loaded. "Wufei?" I called out, willing my teeth to be still. "Wufeiii?!"  
  
A head appeared from within the carrier. "Wufei... I need a carrier for Deathscythe, there's none left."  
  
"Heero loaded Deathscythe into his carrier along with wing. Get in, we got the data we need. This place will go up in 2 minutes!"  
  
I ran into the carrier and Wufei finished loading Shenlong. The back closed, and the plane raced down the runway.  
  
"Where are we going?" I asked.  
  
"We've decided to lay low for a while. We'll be hiding out at one of Quatre's estates in Italy. No-one will suspect that we're the gundam pilots." Wufei grinned slyly.  
  
"Can't they track the carrier?"  
  
"We'll stop the carriers two miles west of the estate, and put the gundams into an underground hideout Quatre and the Maguanacs have access to. We'll go the last two miles by car. Rashid is coming to meet us."  
  
I nodded and concentrated on the vast skies ahead of us. Endless darkness. We were flying over the Mediterranean sea. I was tired, very very tired, and my head started to drop. Luckily Wufei was flying the plane.  
  
"Duo? You alright?"  
  
"Huh?" I looked up quickly, disturbed from my position on the verge of sleep. "I'm fine!"  
  
"Why did it take you so long to reach the hangars? You didn't even open it. I got it open with Nataku. An even better question, why are you half naked and where are your shoes? And why is your back covered in blood?"  
  
"Long story. I'll tell you when we're at Quatre's place."  
  
Wufei nodded and we were silent for the rest of the flight. 


	2. Settling In

"Duo, this is your room." Quatre opened a heavy wooden door.  
  
I nodded slowly, feeling physically sick.  
  
"Where's the bathroom?" I asked. "I need to get cleaned up."  
  
Quatre gave me directions to the bathroom and handed me two towels. "I'll need something to wear." I said, looking sheepish.  
  
Quatre nodded and left the room, returning soon after with a pair of jeans, boxers, a pair of socks and a black sweater.  
  
"Thanks," I nodded, gathering the items he had just given me and making my way to the bathroom. I was still wearing the wet trousers, and my body felt so cold. I entered the bathroom and locked the door behind me. There was a heater on the wall and I pulled on the string to start it up. I opened the shower doors and turned the hot tap on. I was going to enjoy a nice hot shower. I sighed at the thought, and began to undress.  
  
I put the cover down on the toilet and sat on it, pulling off my socks. I stood up and took off my trousers and boxers. I then began to unbraid my hair and checked if there were shampoo, conditioner and shower gel in the shower. Finding nothing there, I looked in the cupboard and found some. My gaze went to the top of the shower, were I saw steam coming from within. I smiled to myself and threw the towels over the door so I could reach them easily. I took in the bottles with me and set them down on the tiles beneath my feet. The water was unbearably hot and I jerked my body away from it, turning on the cold tap while trying to avoid scalding my hand.  
  
I lifted my head up the water and let it run over my face, it felt fantastic after the cold murky water of that lake. I ran my fingers through my hair, cleaning out the sand and mud, lathering up the shampoo till I was sure I had an afro made up entirely of shampoo suds. I rinsed my hair, wincing a little as the shampoo stung the deep, long cut on my back. I reached down for the conditioner, worked it through, then quickly rinsed my hair and washed myself, and then turned off the water. I wrung out my hair, gathering it up in the towel, and wrapping it up above my head like a turban. I pulled on the other towel and tied it around my waist, walking out of the shower and back to my room, leaving a trail of wet footprints down the hall.  
  
I entered my room and took off the towel from my waist, drying myself with it. I pulled on the boxers and walked over to the mirror, turning with my back to the mirror. I twisted my head to examine the deep gash in my back. It was about three inches long, a vertical gash, still leaking blood. It tickled as it ran slowly down my back. I pulled on the boxers, jeans and socks and walked downstairs where the other pilots were gathered.  
  
Wufei raised an eyebrow when I entered. "Still half-naked I see," he commented sarcastically.  
  
I grinned half-heartedly and asked Quatre for a bandage for my cut. He nodded and opened a cupboard, producing a long white bandage. He asked me to turn around, and began examining my cut.  
  
"Looks pretty bad. What cut you?" he asked.  
  
"I had to cut myself with a sharp rock. It's a long story. I'll tell you once I'm bandaged." I said.  
  
Quatre cleaned out the wound with some antiseptic that stung me terribly, then wrapped the bandage around my torso, securing the end with a plaster.  
  
"I'll go put a top on before I catch a cold," I mumbled, and returned to my room, pulling on the black sweater. It was cotton and it felt soft against my bruised skin. I returned to the sitting room and sat on the couch.  
  
The other pilots looked at me expentantly. "So, what happened?" Heero asked.  
  
"I had set up the bomb on the main hangar door, and then I walked away from it, next to the hangar wall, but some soldiers appeared. I tried to get away, and ran for a while before I saw a lake and jumped into it. They fired into the water, but the bullets missed me. The water was terribly dirty and murky, and when I got up, I felt pain on my back, and I saw I had a leech on me. I tried pulling it off but I couldn't. Then I tried rubbing it off with some sand, but that didn't work either. That's where I got the scratches from. I finally managed to find a sharp rock and ended up pulling my skin off as well as the leech." I told my story.  
  
Quatre looked shocked. "Who knows what was in that water..."  
  
"Well leeches were living there, so it couldn't have been all that bad," I said, more out of wanting to comfort myself than setting Quatre's mind at rest.  
  
Trowa nodded. "What time is it?" he asked.  
  
"Almost half past three in the morning." I answered.  
  
"Woah... late..." he mumbled, more to himself than anyone else.  
  
"Yeah. I'm going up to bed. I'm cold, I'm tired..." I nodded, heading for the stairs, with the others following me. My room was the last one in the hall, and I heard four doors closing behind me.  
  
I entered my room and slowly shut the door behind me. It was a warm night, and I doubted I would need the blanket spread on the bed. I took off the jeans and top I had, being careful not to pull off the bandage along with it. There was a knock on the door and I called for whoever it was to come in. It was Quatre.  
  
"Do you need some pyjamas?" he asked, looking a little embarassed at the sight in front of him... me with a bandaged torso, in boxers.  
  
"Nah, I'll sleep like this. It's warm tonight."  
  
Quatre nodded and walked out of the door. I grinned slyly at him as he closed the door, but his back was turned to me.  
  
I giggled to myself and walked over to the window to close the curtains. I took a glimpse out of the window to the enormous grounds of the estate. I closed the curtains and walked over to the bed, lying down gently. I placed my head on the pillow and breathed a sigh of relief. It was good to be in bed. I turned over to my side and closed my eyes, falling asleep within minutes. 


	3. Setting In

Three days had passed and we were still here at Quatre's estate. The days were uneventful, the nights filled with undisturbed sleep. We woke, ate, watched TV, played games, ate, slept, and the pattern started again the next day. I wasn't really enjoying it, in face I was constantly on my toes, ready for us to be discovered, but we never were. As the days went past, I began to feel more and more fatigued. My eyes were constantly half closed, I shuffled my feet as I walked, and my skin became pale.  
  
I doubted anyone noticed, no one said anything about it to me. I thought it must be because I was sleeping too much, so I disregarded it.  
  
Tuesday came, our ninth day at the estate.  
  
There was a knock at the door. "Duo, aren't you coming down for breakfast?" It was Quatre.  
  
I raised my head from the pillow and moved the blankets off my body. I had started feeling cold every night, shivering despite the warmth under the blankets. My clock read eight in the morning. I lay my head back on the pillow. "Come in Quatre!" I called out, my voice sounding rather weak.  
  
The door opened and Quatre walked in. "Duo? Is anything wrong?"  
  
"Just tired I guess."  
  
"You look a bit pale."  
  
"I'm fine, really. I'll be down in a few minutes."  
  
Quatre took one last look at me and walked out of the door. I slowly got out of bed. I had slept in trousers and a sweater, a big difference from my first night here. I couldn't be bothered to get dressed, and walked down the hall. My head was spinning. The walls seemed to be floating, and I squinted in an effort to better my eyesight. I reached the staircase and held on to the banisters, walking down slowly, one step at a time, left foot, right foot, left foot. It was more of an effort than it ever had been.  
  
My mouth was dry, and I walked to the kitchen and asked Quatre to pour me a glass of water. He obliged, and set the glass down on the table, as I sat on a chair beside Wufei, who was looking into a cup of coffee. Opposite me were Heero and Trowa, deep in conversation about something or other, but I couldn't be bothered to focus.  
  
I took a sip of the cold water and felt it run down my throat all the way to my stomach.  
  
"Aren't you hot like that?" Wufei interrupted my thoughts. He was wearing a t-shirt and trousers.  
  
I shook my head gently.  
  
"Aren't you feeling well?" he asked.  
  
"I'm fine, just tired," I answered. I closed my eyes and swallowed violently as a wave of nausea overcame me. My eyelids were heavy, my mind fuzzy. I let my head slip onto Wufei's shoulder, and, feeling no resistance, remained there. I could feel my body swaying, tangled, drowned voices around me. Was someone touching my body? I couldn't be sure...  
  
Quatre looked at Wufei, then to Duo. "Is he okay?" Quatre asked.  
  
Wufei looked down at Duo. "He's rather pale."  
  
Heero and Trowa looked up. "Has he got a fever?" Heero inquired.  
  
Wufei placed his palm on Duo's forehead. "He's got a fever alright," he announced, frowning. "Duo?" he said.  
  
There was no answer.  
  
"Duo?" Quatre walked over. He picked up Duo's glass of water and splashed some on Duo's cheeks. No response. He turned to Heero. "Heero?"  
  
Heero walked over to Duo. "Duo? Can you hear me? Duo?" he said loudly, holding Duo's face in his hands. He raised Duo's eyelids. The pupils were turned in, looking at eachother. "He's falling into unconsciousness! We have to wake him up!" Heero cried.  
  
Wufei lifted Duo's head gently and set him back on his chair. Duo's body was limp, and he was leaning to the left.  
  
"Quatre, bring me some water," Heero asked.  
  
Quatre filled a glass with some water and handed it to Heero, who splashed the water in Duo's face.  
  
Trowa was supporting Duo's head from behind, as he was leaning back. He saw the eyes move, then open slightly. He helped Duo lift his head.  
  
"Duo, what's wrong?" Heero asked.  
  
"I..."  
  
"Duo?"  
  
He had fallen back into his previous state. Heero slapped Duo's cheeks, and the eyes opened again, this time more slowly.  
  
"Duo! Talk to me!" he shouted, holding Duo's face up to his.  
  
"I'm tired..."  
  
"Why? What's wrong? Are you in pain?"  
  
Duo mumbled something incoherent. Heero splashed some more water in Duo's face, shaking him gently. "Duo?"  
  
Duo mumbled something about water and sand, then remained silent, motionless. Heero looked up at Trowa and frowned. "This looks bad. Quatre, call an ambulance."  
  
Trowa looked at Heero, while Quatre phoned for an ambulance. "Heero, he's wet himself," he said, pointing to the chair that was now dripping water to the tiles beneath their feet.  
  
"Dammit!" Heero exclaimed. "He's unconscious. His muscles have dilated. Let's move him, we've got to get him in the recovery postion. You hold him from the arms, I've got his legs."  
  
Trowa nodded, and on the count of three, they lifted Duo up and carried him to the sitting room, where they lay him down on the carpet.  
  
"He's very light..." Trowa thought out loud, as they turned Duo over onto his back, resting his head to the side.  
  
Heero nodded solemnly, keeping an eye on Duo, who's body had begun to shake.  
  
"Is he cold?" Quatre asked, putting the phone down.  
  
"I think he's going to vomit," Wufei said, bending over to lift Duo's head slightly. Duo took a few deep breaths, swallowing a few times in succession. Wufei lay Duo's head on the carpet. "He's going to..." he said again.  
  
Duo coughed violently, and vomited onto the carpet, throwing up the water he had drunk. He began to cough.  
  
"Move his head or he'll choke!" Trowa panicked.  
  
Wufei lifted Duo's torso and turned Duo's face to the other side, moving his braid away from the vomit on the carpet.  
  
They heard sirens in the distance. "It's the ambulance," Quatre breathed a sigh of relief. 


	4. Awake

Light was penetrating the darkness. It came slowly, like spots coming closer from a distance. The black was replaced by red. I opened my eyes slightly, seeing a person dressed in white standing beside me.  
  
"I see you're awake," the figure said, voice grim.  
  
I opened my eyes, blinking at the light that hurt my eyes. I opened my mouth to talk, but felt as though my throat were shut tight.  
  
"There's no need to talk just yet. Your friends are waiting outside to see you. Would you like me to bring them in?"  
  
I nodded slowly, my muscles stiff. The door opened and I raised my head slightly to see who there was. I saw Heero, Trowa, Quatre and Wufei come in, each of them looking at my face to see if I was awake. I smiled weakly when they stepped closer to the bed. "How long was I out for?" I croaked.  
  
"About twenty minutes. While you were unconscious, we took some blood tests. We'll have the results within 24 hours, so we're going to keep you here until then. What have you been feeling?"  
  
"Tired... nauseous... like I have no energy..."  
  
The doctor reached over to me and applied pressure to my lymph nodes. I jerked back from the pain, and I saw him frown.  
  
"Can I see your stomach?" he asked me, lifting the blankets off me. He lifted my top, and saw the bandage. "What's this for?"  
  
I told him about what happened in Cameroon, and he frowned even more.  
  
"How often do you change it?"  
  
"Every day."  
  
"Didn't you notice this rash?"  
  
"I just assumed it was from the bandage."  
  
"And you say you were in Africa and you fell into a lake?"  
  
I nodded.  
  
"Did anything bite you while you were there?"  
  
"A leech, that's all I'm sure of, but I was almost naked..." I blushed.  
  
The doctor nodded.  
  
"It's not malaria is it?" I panicked.  
  
"No, no," the doctor mumbled, shaking his head. "I'm going to tell the lab workers to hurry up with your blood test. I'll be back soon." He turned to Heero and the others. "If anything happens, press this button to call a nurse."  
  
Wufei spoke before the doctor could leave. "How bad is he?"  
  
I looked up, looking at the doctor, then at Wufei. The doctor returned my gaze. "What do you think I have?" I asked.  
  
"I believe you've got sleeping sickness."  
  
"Surely that won't kill me?" I said half-heartedly.  
  
The doctor was silent. "It's a fatal disease, but we can cure you. I just hope it hasn't progressed too far."  
  
I felt the blood drain from my face. I looked at the five faces surrounding me, then watched the doctor leave. I had the urge to jump out of my bed and drag him back into the room, begging him to save me. I couldn't die... we had a war to fight...  
  
Heero looked at me, his eyes showing a trace of sympathy. I smiled up at him weakly, my eyes filling with tears. "Heero..." I whispered.  
  
Trowa had an arm around Quatre. I wanted someone's arm around me. I wanted to cry into someone's shoulder, to sob and scream and wail. I couldn't die. I wouldn't die.  
  
"I won't die will I?" I whispered.  
  
Wufei reached forward and took my hand. "No."  
  
I pulled him closer to me, forced his arms round my back, and lay my chin on his shoulder, my cheek near his. I pursed my lips together. Frankly, I was scared. I felt like I was dead already... how could they possibly save me? It felt like I was in Wufei's embrace for just a few minutes when the doctor reentered, holding a sheet of results. I lifted my head and let my grasp fall. Wufei straightened up and looked at the doctor.  
  
"I've got the results of your blood test. You're suffering from sleeping sickness, caused by the Trypanosome parasite. You must have been bitten by the tsetse fly while in Africa, and it passed on the parasite to you. We're going to start a course of injections of suramin. It works in most cases when treatment starts early enough, but you're at a rather advanced stage. Unconsciousness is a sure sign that the disease has advanced."  
  
I paled even further. "So you're saying I'm going to die?"  
  
"If the treatment is successful, then you'll be fine. It's a slim chance you'll have to take. Without the treatment you'll die for sure. We've got to try it."  
  
I nodded. "Is it contagious?"  
  
"No, it's only spread by the tsetse fly, so no-one has anything to worry about," he said, turning to Quatre, Trowa, Heero and Wufei.  
  
"Except me," I thought.  
  
"I have a nurse preparing the first injection. You'll be receiving one injection every eight hours, day and night. We're going to try everything to save you."  
  
I nodded, feeling dazed. I was feeling cold allover, and was sweating profusely, but my forehead felt hot to my touch. "I don't feel well..." I mumbled.  
  
The doctor noticed my state and paged a nurse to bring me some water and a flannel.  
  
I started to shake, waves of motion starting from my spine and spreading through the rest of my body like the blood running through my veins. The room was beginning to spin again and I fought to keep my eyes open. I thought I saw the door open, and a nurse dressed in blue and white entered, wiping a wet flannel over my face. Another nurse entered and held up my arm. I closed my eyes and felt a sharp jab at my elbow, and opened my eyes again slowly. 


	5. Falling

"He's falling into unconsciousness again," the doctor said. I heard him but his words were jumbled in my mind, they merged into one, swimming in a deep pool of black. I was swimming with them, trying to catch them, but they disintegrated as my fingers wrapped around them. A face appeared, black eyes, black hair, pale, soft skin. It was Wufei.  
  
I opened my mouth to cry out, but no sound came. "Wufei!" I managed to choke out. "Wu... fei..." my voice was faltering, I was drowning in this sea as black as ink. Now I was falling, endlessly, trying to grasp at the walls around me, but they were too smooth for me to grab onto. I scrambled with even more effort, but the walls only seemed to move away from me.  
  
Suddenly I hit the ground with a thud. I felt as though every bone in my body was cracked, as though my very soul had jumped into my body with a force like nothing I'd ever felt before. It jolted through every part of my body, and then I opened my eyes again.  
  
"Thank God you're awake!" Quatre breathed a sigh of relief.  
  
Now there were seven pairs of eyes on me. Or were there more? I mumbled something that not even I could understand.  
  
"You called my name," Wufei said, moving closer.  
  
I swallowed and looked at Trowa and Quatre, their hands now intwined. I looked at the nurses and the doctor, then decided I didn't care what they thought. "Wufei..." I said.  
  
He looked at me expectantly, a look of questioning in his eyes.  
  
"Come here."  
  
He walked over to me, looking confused. I looked at him and began to grin even though I still felt dead inside. "Would you kiss me, Wufei?"  
  
Wufei looked taken aback. I feared he'd run out of the room, that was the last thing I wanted to happen. "Please..." I whispered.  
  
Before I knew it, he had reached forwards to my face and his soft lips were on mine. I inhaled deeply, feeling a new sense of life rush through me, as though I were taking Wufei's life source. I opened my eyes just a crack, and noticed the nurses and doctor looking at me strangely, but I didn't care. I closed my eyes, and put my arms on Wufei's back.  
  
I ran my fingers through his hair gently, softly removing the rubber band tying it up neatly. His hair felt like silk in my cold fingers, and my hands slowly ran down to his warm cheeks. I parted my lips and let my tongue brush his. He put up no resistance, and I felt his tongue within my mouth. He was warm, soft, gentle, everything I needed to feel, and I never wanted to pull away.  
  
His lips moved to my cheek and he ran his lips over my cold skin. I felt his warm, hurried breath on me, and it excited me even more. I raised my hands to his scalp again and held his hair once more, letting my grip loosen after I whispered a 'Thank you'.  
  
He remained bent over me, then straightened up slowly, glancing at the other three pilots for a moment. Heero raised an eyebrow, and Quatre's eyes shined. Trowa was as silent as ever, but his one visible eye seemed to show that inwardly he was grinning.  
  
Heero walked to the door and called in the nurses and doctor, who had decided to leave us alone for a moment. They re-entered, and I grinned sheepishly. Whatever life I seemed to have gained from Wufei left my body again. I wanted to wrap the blankets around myself as tight as possible, to stop the life from leaving me, but there was nothing I could do, and I felt the weight of my body like never before, felt as though I were sinking into the mattress.  
  
"I'm tired..." I mumbled, feeling my eyes drooping once again.  
  
The doctor swiftly appeared beside me, and opened my eyelids, but I felt as though they were rolling back, my sight switching to a place I've never seen before. This time the sea wasn't black, there was no sea at all, just nothingness. Just white. I looked around, turning to and fro trying to find someone. But there was noone there.  
  
The white blurred suddenly and something came into view. I felt I was floating, I felt my spirit floating above my body. There I was, I could see myself down there, lying on a bed, surrounded by people... one dressed in blue jeans and a green tank top, one in beige jeans and a green polo neck, one in white, and one in white and brown. There were two women in blue and white, and a man in white. I reached out to them, to myself on that bed, but no-one felt me. My hands caressed Wufei's hair, but he didn't move. They were looking at me, while the doctor and nurses tried to wake me up.  
  
"You won't wake me," something inside me said. "You can't wake me now."  
  
"Yes they can," I answered.  
  
I shook my head, what was this? Jumbled words from the scene below wafted to my ears.  
  
"He's fallen... coma... now... death..." I heard, not able to hear everything.  
  
Now there was a different voice. "Can't... save..."  
  
And yet another voice. "Something... save... know... questions..." It was Wufei.  
  
"You question me Wufei? You question my actions?" I said, knowing he wouldn't hear. My gaze was on myself, as I lay there still. They were connecting machinery to my body.  
  
"Save me. You've got to save me," I thought, the words hurried and panicked within me. "SAVE ME!"  
  
The doctor turned to the monitor that showed my heartbeat. "Slow..." I heard him say.  
  
I turned to the monitor and saw that the heartrate was indeed slow and irregular.  
  
"Disease... messes up... nervous system..." more words wafted up to me. All eyes were on the monitor, mine included. My heartbeat kept slowing down, and I willed it to quicken.  
  
"Brain scan," were the words I heard next.  
  
"Brain scan?" I thought. I moved quickly, and fell into my body. The body jerked, but didn't awaken.  
  
We were taken to a radiography room, and they laid the body onto a special table ready to be placed into the scan machine. Soon after, we were returned to the ward, and reconnected to the equipment there. More words, but they were clear now because I was in the body. "The disease has affected his brain badly, and a full recovery is impossible." 


	6. Leaving

"Even if he were to be cured, which is impossible now, he'd be severely retarded. Do you want to continue treatment or shall we switch off the machines and let him die?" the doctor continued.  
  
"DIE? Let me DIE?" I cried out, but no-one could hear. I was only speaking to the body. The body could hear me, no-one else could.  
  
"But souls don't die." someone said. It was the body.  
  
"You'll die."  
  
"Let me die. I have no purpose or will to live."  
  
I ignored the body and turned my attention to the voices from without. The four pilots were looking at eachother, talking. Heero nodded. Trowa nodded. Quatre looked at the floor, then nodded slowly. Wufei looked at the body, I felt his eyes penetrate to me, then he nodded as well.  
  
"You can save us! You can! I know you can!" I cried out, all to no avail. I was a silent spirit, only the body could hear me.  
  
"Let me die."  
  
"No! I want us to live..."  
  
"Let me die."  
  
The doctor reached to the respirometer and disconnected it.  
  
"NO! We'll die!!!" I shrieked.  
  
"Let me die... Let me die in peace."  
  
"Peace?" I asked, awaiting an answer from the body.  
  
  
"Peace."  
  
  
And with that, I was gone.  
  
  
The End.  
  
  
Authour's Note: Ooh... went all philosophical and such at the end there. --;; Sorry. But I loved writing this story... I really did. =^.^= I hope it didn't confuse you too much, but in the first state of unconciousness, the pov was the pilots, in the second, it was Duo's, and in the coma after the kiss, it was Duo's soul. After the brain scan it was the soul and the body. Lots of different perspectives... ^^;; 


End file.
